He died a week ago at 97, Dr. Richard L. Garwin, a polymath. He's the guy who designed the hydrogen bomb and then (among so many other accomplishments) went on a life-long mission to reduce the risks it posed.
Linked here are 2 fascinating articles concerning Garwin (in particular the 1st, by a man who interviewed him many times over the years) and the secret history of ultra powerful nuclear weaponry by the USA and the Soviet Union.
The first of these articles is front page currently at The New York Times and the second is linked in that article.
The New York Times article can be accessed by all in this paywall penetrating link that is to terminate in 14 days, i.e. on June 2, 2025:
The 2nd article is as fascinating and shocking (and well written):
Note: The first article makes mention of a proposed bomb that would be 600,000 times the intensity of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. That would be 9 trillion tons of TNT: "One proposed version had the force of more than 600,000 Hiroshimas." The Hiroshima bomb was 15,000 tons TNT intensity.
The 2nd article has a lot of history and it's very well presented. One topic is the 100 megaton weapon that was developed, built and tested by the Soviet Union that was called Tsar Bomba or Emperor Bomb. At the last minute it was decided to replace a lot of the fissionable material with lead in order to reduce the yield to 50 megatons. The lead scientist calculated that some 660,000 premature deaths from radiation poisoning would be thus prevented. So, the test yielded 50 megatons.
The 600,000 x Hiroshima bomb was one of the brain-childs of Dr. Richard Garwin, a main subject of the New York Times article, which goes on:
That bomb wasn’t the only feat driven by Dr. Garwin’s prodigious intellect. He made basic discoveries about the structure of the universe, laid the groundwork for wonders of health care and computers, and won many awards. He pushed back frontiers in astronomy, physics, superconductors, orbital reconnaissance and a multitude of other topics he investigated, often at the U.S. government’s behest.
But what drove him, what made him eager to advise presidents, was not his gift for coming up with marvels of discovery and innovation but, courtesy of Fermi, a personal crusade to save the world from his own creation.
“The most influential scientist you’ve never heard of” is how his biographer cast him. The physicist told newcomers to the federal apparatus that they could get something done or get credit, but not both. He was, in some respects, the antithesis of Kissinger, who carefully tended his public image.
Linked here are 2 fascinating articles concerning Garwin (in particular the 1st, by a man who interviewed him many times over the years) and the secret history of ultra powerful nuclear weaponry by the USA and the Soviet Union.
The first of these articles is front page currently at The New York Times and the second is linked in that article.
The New York Times article can be accessed by all in this paywall penetrating link that is to terminate in 14 days, i.e. on June 2, 2025:
The 2nd article is as fascinating and shocking (and well written):
The untold story of the world’s biggest nuclear bomb
The secret history of the world’s largest nuclear detonation is coming to light after 60 years. The United States dismissed the gigantic Tsar Bomba as a stunt, but behind the scenes was working to build a “superbomb” of its own.
thebulletin.org
Note: The first article makes mention of a proposed bomb that would be 600,000 times the intensity of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. That would be 9 trillion tons of TNT: "One proposed version had the force of more than 600,000 Hiroshimas." The Hiroshima bomb was 15,000 tons TNT intensity.
The 2nd article has a lot of history and it's very well presented. One topic is the 100 megaton weapon that was developed, built and tested by the Soviet Union that was called Tsar Bomba or Emperor Bomb. At the last minute it was decided to replace a lot of the fissionable material with lead in order to reduce the yield to 50 megatons. The lead scientist calculated that some 660,000 premature deaths from radiation poisoning would be thus prevented. So, the test yielded 50 megatons.
The 600,000 x Hiroshima bomb was one of the brain-childs of Dr. Richard Garwin, a main subject of the New York Times article, which goes on:
That bomb wasn’t the only feat driven by Dr. Garwin’s prodigious intellect. He made basic discoveries about the structure of the universe, laid the groundwork for wonders of health care and computers, and won many awards. He pushed back frontiers in astronomy, physics, superconductors, orbital reconnaissance and a multitude of other topics he investigated, often at the U.S. government’s behest.
But what drove him, what made him eager to advise presidents, was not his gift for coming up with marvels of discovery and innovation but, courtesy of Fermi, a personal crusade to save the world from his own creation.
“The most influential scientist you’ve never heard of” is how his biographer cast him. The physicist told newcomers to the federal apparatus that they could get something done or get credit, but not both. He was, in some respects, the antithesis of Kissinger, who carefully tended his public image.
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